Cross Keys Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Williamstown, New Jersey 08094
Wednesday, July 16, 2008 11:04 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot of the Cessna 172N departed his home airport for a short solo flight to another airport, where he made an uneventful full-stop landing, before returning to his home airport. The student pilot reported that while attempting to land on runway 27, the airplane was "blowing around quite a bit." During the landing attempt, the airplane bounced twice, and the pilot decided to perform a go-around. He applied power, and attempted to maintain 70 knots as he began the climbout; however, the airplane veered left, and "would not climb." The student pilot aborted the takeoff, and the airplane subsequently struck trees adjacent to a taxiway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to its wings and cabin structure during the collision. According to the student pilot's certificated flight instructor (CFI), the winds at the time of the accident were no more than 5 knots, but the windsock was "dancing." The CFI added that the winds were favoring runway 27, but might have switched to favor runway 9 at the time of the accident. The recorded conditions about the time of the accident, at an airport 13 miles northwest of the accident location, were winds from 020 degrees at 8 knots, and a temperature of 31 degrees Celsius. The pilot had accumulated approximately 15 total hours of flight experience, 3 hours of which were conducted solo. The student pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies with the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The student pilot's inability to maintain directional control during the attempted aborted landing. Contributing to the severity of the accident were the trees.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/16/2008
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1104
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Williamstown
Event State NEW JERSEY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 08094
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 394220N
Event Location Longitude 0750159W
Event Location Airport Cross Keys Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 17N
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.5
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 162
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1054 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID PHL
Elevation of weather observation facility 36
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 20
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.17
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24100
NTSB Notification Source Philadelphia FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Jul 17 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 28 2008 3:01PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Philadelphia FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N739UG
NTSB Number NYC08CA250
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 172 N
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17270812
Certified Max Gross Weight 2558
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jun 1 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 4946.1
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jamarco LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2970 E Grant Ave
Aircraft Owner City Williamstown
Aircraft Owner State NJ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 08094
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name David E Wallin
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Swedesboro
Operator State NJ
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 08085
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code N81
Departure City Hamington
Departure State NJ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1030
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 17N
Destination City Williamstown
Destination State NJ
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 10 2008 2:56PM
User who most recently changed record MUZD
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 3500
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --